Eye Lines👏🏼Eye Lines👏🏼Eye Lines👏🏼

Why a guided self-tape practice is so important for developing actors.

It always surprises me when actors who don’t have a ton of on-set experience jump on the self-tape hating bandwagon.

I get that it is soooo seductive to put the blame on how hard it is too book in this current landscape to the fact that you are not in the room with a casting director. (FYI: The reason it is so difficult to book right now is beyond the scope of what casting controls).

But as comedy casting director G. Charles Wright said in our Pep Talk for our members last month regarding in-person auditions:

Actors are “digging their heels to a romanticized version of the past that never actually existed.”

Being in the room isn’t going to turn things around for you. Wishing things were different than they are—is not going to help you build the career you want.

Self-tapes were always going to become an industry standard. In fact, in markets like Atlanta, they have been the primary method of auditioning for almost a decade. But tapes have been used in those markets since 2005. Yes! 20 years!

It is especially frustrating when actors complain about “what a waste of their time” self-tapes are.

Are you kidding me?!!! You are getting a free education any time you step in front of a camera for a self-tape audition.

You get to practice on set skills that are NECESSARY to being an actor that directors and producers WANT to work with time and time again—and those are the people that really matter.

FIRST, STOP TRUSTING THE ACTOR RUMOR MILL.

This weekend I was shooting a short film, but I managed to squeeze in a client for a self-tape audition. It was their first time getting a call from a pretty big casting office in the UK and they wanted to make a good impression.

I always like to do a run of the scene without discussing the material so I can see the prep work the actor has done prior to our session and identify what might need to be deepened and/or clarified for story.

You know what was unclear? EYE LINES.
And eye lines are essential for story.

The actor had completely missed that about half way through the scene another character enters. They were using the same eye line for both.

When I asked them about the relationship between the two, they shared that not only had they missed it, but that they heard from another actor that they should always keep their eye lines the same for simplicity. Wrong!

Most actors don’t know what they don’t know and end up spreading a lot of misinformation. This is why you need guided practice from coaches and teachers who understand what it is like to be in front of a camera.

Let me tell y’all something…

When we interviewed showrunner Jake Weisman for our monthly member Pep Talks he shared that the reason why I booked the recurring role of Rocio on This Fool was because of my eyes and how clear the relationship was for each character during my audition scene.

Why because unlike theatre….TV/Film is a TECHNICAL medium.

“BUT I NEED TO ACT WITH ANOTHER HUMAN BEING—THAT’S WHY I NEED TO BE IN THE ROOM!”

This is one of the biggest complaint actors share on social media, and I totally get it. Our traditional actor training is all about theatre - where we're constantly working with living, breathing humans right there in front of us.

But that's not always how things work on set. Just this weekend while I was shooting the short, during the majority of my close-ups, I had to work with marks while the other actor was saying their lines from across the room because of spacing issues.

To top it all off - during my BIG emotional climactic scene, we had to throw out the first take because even though the actors were standing exactly where they'd been for the wide shot, the eye lines were not working for the close-up. We had to quickly figure out new eye lines for camera, set new marks (without actors), and then jump right back into this intense scene and deliver.

This is exactly why we need to develop skills that let us tell the story without needing to have another actor right there with us. And why we need to build a healthy critical eye that helps us quickly check our work on set, implement technical notes, and jump right back into the story without skipping a beat—which is exactly how we coach clients for their auditions.

And you know the perfect place to practice all of that and more? Your self-tapes!

SO IS GOING TO THEATRE SCHOOL A COMPLETE WASTE OF MY TIME IF I WANT TO DO TV & FILM?

Absolutely not.
Wanna know my secret weapon for hitting my marks on set every. single. time?

VIEWPOINTS, baby!

Raise your hand if during theatre school you were walking on a grid thinking to yourself, “Why in the hell am I doing this? When am I EVER going to use this nonsense outside of this class?” 🙋🏻

Well you are going to use it all of the time on set and in your self-tapes.

Viewpoints helps you orient yourself to space. I use my relationship to architecture all of the time to hit my mark without looking down at the floor.

Speaking of movement, remember that Viewpoints exercises where you'd be moving along, and then your teacher would stop the music and make you reset? And you had to recreate EXACTLY what you'd just done before the music stopped?

You know what that exercise was actually teaching us? How to be present and track every single movement your body makes, moment to moment.

And guess where I use this skill ALL the time now? Keeping my continuity on point on set.

I can't tell you how many times a script coordinator or a DP has complimented me on how consistent I am take after take. Like yeah, my delivery might change based on what I'm getting from the other actor, but I always know exactly when I picked up that glass or made that gesture - and I repeat it every time. That's how you become an editor's dream.

And this is exactly how you make fans on set and keep getting invited back

ARE YOU WORKING HOLISTICALLY?

This is what we mean by holistic training and this is how we practice self-tapes and virtual auditions in our Practice Track membership.

So, stop wasting your energy on stuff that doesn't matter and you can't control anyway. Instead, focus on what actually counts - building your relationship with camera and practicing those skills that'll show up for you on set when you finally book that job.

You got this!
Love y’all!❤️

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If you are intrigued and want to test the waters of our community, we teach our annual #SelfTapeMay class that is open to non-members. Get on the waitlist HERE. And if you got an audition and want to work with a coach or need an experienced reader, you can work with us HERE.